A Journey Through History: Exploring the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), a public research university, boasts a rich history and a sprawling campus that blends historic architecture with modern facilities. A walk through the campus is a journey through time, revealing the evolution of an institution that has played a significant role in shaping the state and nation. The campus covers 760 acres (310 ha), encompassing the Morehead Planetarium and the many stores and shops located on Franklin Street. Students can participate in over 550 officially recognized student organizations.
A Claim to "First": UNC's Historical Significance
UNC holds a unique place in American higher education, often claiming the title of the first public university in the United States. While other institutions, like the College of William and Mary, predate UNC, their paths to public status differ significantly. William and Mary opened its doors in 1693, a full 96 years prior to UNC receiving its charter and 102 years before UNC actually opened to students. The problem is that when William and Mary opened, it did so under a Royal Charter as Virginia was a colony of the U.K. It was, therefore, a British institution. It was also a private institution, a fact which remained after the Revolutionary War. It stayed that way until 1862 when it closed during the Civil War. Drunk soldiers of the Union Army burned part of it down in 1862. It reopened after the war in 1869 but closed again in 1882 due to financial issues. The Commonwealth of Virginia stepped in to help and it reopened in 1888 but was not yet a public institution. It was not until 1906 that W&M became a fully public institution. (Harvard being the first) it was not truly a public institution until the 20th Century, well after UNC. Still, William and Mary has many firsts under its belt. The first collegiate secret society, the F.H.C. Society opened there in 1750. The first honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, opened there in 1776. Certainly, William and Mary predates UNC, but in the sense that UNC is and has always been a public institution it has a strong claim to the title of first.
The University of Georgia (UGA) also factors into this discussion. The state approved the charter for UGA on January 27, 1785; UNC did not receive its charter until 1789. But Georgia did not admit its first students 1801, a full six years after students matriculated at UNC. Indeed, UNC had graduated its first class of students in 1798, three years before any students attended Georgia. to graduate students in the 1700’s. The UNC argument rests on the assertion that a university existing only on paper is not yet an actual university. Since UNC beat UGA to the punch in terms opening, enrolling, and graduating students, they declare it must therefore be considered the oldest.
Architectural Gems: A Campus Tour
Many of the original structures still exist and are in use on a daily basis. UNC has taken the time to keep their buildings and history intact. Directly behind the Carolina Inn is Joseph Carlyle Sitterson Hall which is seen in the first photo of the set below. Part of the building is called Joseph Carlyle and Frederick P. Brooks Computer Science Building. Sitterson, known to his friends and family as Lyle, had a long and storied association with UNC. He was born in Kinston, NC where his father worked for the local post office. As it happens, I have been through Kinston more times than I can remember thanks to work I did with Marines at Camp Lejeune during my time in the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. It is a small community now, and it must have been tiny during his youth. Sitterson entered UNC in the fall of 1927, graduating as part of the Class of 1931. He stayed on at Chapel to get his master’s degree (Class of 1932) and Ph.D. (Class of 1937). He joined the faculty upon graduation and stayed at Chapel Hill until his retirement. Along the way, he became a dean in 1955 and then Vice Chancellor in 1965. In 1966, he was named Chancellor. His time as UNC’s Chancellor unfortunately coincided with unhappy times on campus. Despite protests, strikes, a controversial law barring certain speech (which he opposed), and other unrest so common in the era, Sitterson’s time as Chancellor was marked by campus and enrollment growth, increased faculty publications and research, and his time is generally regarded as quite successful. An interesting fact about the building is that the state provided funds for it without the university having asked for it. The state provided a total $750,000 in 1983 and 1984 (somewhere in the neighborhood of about $2.2 million in 2024 value) to plan for a new computer science building on campus. This was followed by appropriations of $5,560,000 in 1984 and $2,690,000 in 1985 for construction of the building for a total combined budget of $9,000,0000, or about $26.3 million in today’s money. Construction began in 1986, and it was completed in 1987. As it neared completion, the state provided an additional $250,000 (about $693,000 today) for equipment and furnishings.
The Naval Armory is another notable structure. Work on the building began in 1941 and it opened in 1942. It was used by the Navy during World War II for the V-12 training program on campus. It reverted to the university proper in 1945 and has remained the home of the Navy ROTC program since. Costing $127,444 to construct (about $2.7 million in 2024 dollars), the building comes in 17,419 square feet of space. It was designed by Archie Royal Davis, a North Carolina State University grad and native of Morehead City, North Carolina. He settled in Durham, NC and opened his firm in 1939. He designed numerous schools and collegiate structures across the state including some interesting round houses. He would also lead the design work on the John Motley Morehead Planetarium and Science Center (see below). Arthur C. Nash served as consulting architect on the project. In 1962, the building was renovated and during the process the original trusses and columns of the building, all of which were wood, were replaced with steel members. It has had other work done over the years.
Read also: Legacy of Fordham University
Max C. Chapman, Jr. Hall, completed in 2006 or 2007, houses a variety of labs, classrooms, offices, and even a rooftop astronomy area. Chapman was a member of the UNC football team where he was a kicker. He scored he winning field goal against Duke in their 1963 meeting. The game was scheduled for November 23rd, but the assassination of President Kennedy the day before forced the game to moved five days and it was held on Thanksgiving. The kick and the win allowed the Tar Heels the opportunity to play in the Gator Bowl in December. The team travelled south to play the Air Force Academy on December 28th. They won that game, which was the first bowl game UNC had ever won. He graduated from UNC in 1966. and in Japan and was former Chair of the American Stock Exchange. He donated $5 million to help support the construction of the building. Coming in 128,000 square feet, Chapman Hall has a variety of labs, classrooms, offices, and even a rooftop astronomy area. It was designed by the HGA architectural firm.
Murray Hall, named for former chemistry professor Dr. Royce W. Murray, opened in 2010. He joined the faculty at UNC as an instructor in 1960. In 1961, he obtained a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor. He stayed at UNC for a total of fifty-five years. W. Lowry Caudill, Class of 1979, gave $5 million for the construction of Murray. He had conducted his senior research project under Dr. Murray during the 1978-1979. On the far right in this photo you can just make out a gray concrete structure to which Murray is attached. That is the William Rand Kenan Chemistry Laboratories Building. Construction on the building began in 1968 during Chancellor Sitterson’s time. The ten-story structure opened in 1971. Interestingly, part of the building was left undone when it opened. Owing to a lack of funds, part of the seventh floor was left unfinished until 1977. The work on the floor would not be completed until 1980. Kenan was an alumnus of the university (Class of 1898) and during his time he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Along with John Motley Morehead, Kenan had discovered calcium carbide which, as noted above, led to the creation of the industrial Union Carbide.
Carroll Hall, completed in 1953, is named after Dudley D. Carroll, first Dean of the then-named School of Commerce which is now the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Among the many firsts that occurred during his time as dean was the awarding of the business school’s first Ph.D. in 1928 and the first offering the MBA degree in 1952. The building was designed by architect H. Raymond Weeks.
Hanes Hall, another building completed in 1953, is named for Robert M. Hanes (Class of 1912). Born in Winston-Salem, Hanes worked for a time after graduation, but elected to join the Army during World War I. Upon his return stateside, he was hired by Wachovia Bank and quickly rose through the ranks. He became president of the bank in 1931. He also served in the North Carolina House and Senate. Hanes opened as a dorm, but it would not serve in that role for long. By 1959, it had been converted to office space.
Gardner Hall, also completed in 1953, is named for former North Carolina Governor O. Max Gardner. Governor Gardner was a leading force behind the consolidation effort that led to the statewide system of public colleges and universities in the state called the University of North Carolina System. Despite its name, its current institution list includes sixteen universities several of which are not named with the “University of North Carolina [location]”. For example, North Carolina State University in nearby Raleigh is part of this system.
Read also: Baylor's Notable Alumni
Murphey Hall's construction began in 1922, and the building was completed in 1924. It takes its name from Archibald De Bow Murphey, a member of the Class of 1799. Upon graduation, Murphey first spent some time teaching at the university but then went on to become a lawyer. He served in the North Carolina State Senate from 1812 to 1818.
Carolina Hall opened with the name Saunders Hall in honor of William L. Saunders. Saunders was an alumnus of the university (Class of 1854). After graduating from Chapel Hill, he went on to study the law and became an attorney. He joined the Confederate Army during the Civil Way during which he would rise to the rank of Colonel. He was wounded three times, the last being a shot to the face which went through his mouth and out the back of his neck. This left him with difficulty speaking for the rest of his life. After the war, he would become the Secretary of State for North Carolina and a member of the UNC board. He would also lead the North Carolina branch of the Ku Klux Klan. These facts led to calls for renaming the building which occurred in 2015. The building was designed by architect H.P. Alan Montgomery.
Manning Hall is named in honor of John Manning, Jr. He came to the university in 1881 as the Dean of the School of Law. When he arrived, the school had only seven students; he would eventually raise that number to eighty-seven. Manning was an alumnus of Chapel Hill (Class of 1850). He began practicing law in 1853. Congress from 1870 to 1871. In addition to being the dean of law, Manning served on the UNC Board from 1881 to 1899. His son Isaac would later become the Dean of the UNC School of Medicine. His son James would become a North Carolina Supreme Court Justice serving from 1909 to 1911 and then would later be the North Carolina Attorney General from 1916 to 1925.
Landmarks and Traditions: The Heart of Campus
UNC's campus is not just a collection of buildings; it's a landscape imbued with history and tradition. Located in McCorkle Place is the Davie Poplar tree under which a popular legend says the university's founder, William Richardson Davie, selected the location for the university. The historic Playmakers Theatre is located on Cameron Avenue between McCorkle Place and Polk Place. It was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, the same architect who renovated the northern façade of Old East in 1844. The east-facing building was completed in 1851 and initially served as a library and as a ballroom. It was originally named Smith Hall after North Carolina Governor General Benjamin Smith, who was a special aide to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War and was an early benefactor to the university. When the library moved to Hill Hall in 1907, the building was transferred between the school of law and the agricultural chemistry department until it was taken over by the university theater group, the Carolina Playmakers, in 1924. The Morehead-Patterson bell tower, south of the Wilson Library, was commissioned by John Motley Morehead III, the benefactor of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship. The hedge and surrounding landscape was designed by William C. Coker, botany professor and creator of the campus arboretum.
The Davis Library, situated near the Pit, is the main library and the largest academic facility and state-owned building in North Carolina. It was named after North Carolina philanthropist Walter Royal Davis and opened on February 6, 1984. The first book checked out of Davis Library was George Orwell's 1984. The R.B. House Undergraduate Library is located between the Pit area and Wilson Library. It is named after Robert B. House, the Chancellor of UNC from 1945 to 1957, and opened in 1968.
Read also: Columbia University Legacy
Academic Excellence and Research Prowess
UNC-Chapel Hill is renowned for its academic excellence and research contributions. The university is a large recipient of National Institute of Health grants and funds. For fiscal year 2020, the university received $509.9 million in NIH funds for research. For decades, UNC-Chapel Hill has offered an undergraduate merit scholarship known as the Morehead-Cain Scholarship. Recipients receive full tuition, room and board, books, and funds for summer study for four years. In 2003, Chancellor James Moeser announced the Carolina Covenant, wherein UNC offers a debt free education to low-income students who are accepted to the university. The program was the first of its kind at a public university and the second overall in the nation (following Princeton University).
Athletics: The Tar Heel Tradition
North Carolina's athletic teams are known as the Tar Heels. As of December 2024, the university had won 51 NCAA team championships in eight different sports, tied for 7th all-time. These include twenty two NCAA championships in women's soccer, eleven in women's field hockey, five in men's lacrosse, six in men's basketball, one in women's basketball, one in women's tennis, three in women's lacrosse, and two in men's soccer. The Men's basketball team won its 6th NCAA basketball championship in 2017, the third for Coach Roy Williams since he took the job as head coach. UNC was also retroactively given the title of National Champion for the 1924 championship, but is typically not included in the official tally. The university's teams are nicknamed the "Tar Heels", in reference to the state's eighteenth-century prominence as a tar and pitch producer. The nickname's cultural relevance, however, has a complex history that includes anecdotal tales from both the American Civil War and the American Revolution. The mascot is a live Dorset ram named Rameses, a tradition that dates back to 1924, when the team manager brought a ram to the annual game against Virginia Military Institute, inspired by the play of former football player Jack "The Battering Ram" Merrit. Basketball coach Dean Smith was widely known for his idea of "The Carolina Way", in which he challenged his players to, "Play hard, play smart, play together." "The Carolina Way" was an idea of excellence in the classroom, as well as on the court.
Student Life and Traditions: Shaping the Carolina Experience
Student life at UNC is vibrant and diverse, with a wide range of activities and organizations. The largest student fundraiser, the UNC Dance Marathon, involves thousands of students, faculty, and community members in raising funds for the North Carolina Children's Hospital. The student-run newspaper The Daily Tar Heel received the 2004-5 National Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press. Founded in 1977, WXYC 89.3 FM is UNC-Chapel Hill's student radio station that broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Programming is left up to student DJs. WXYC typically plays little heard music from a wide range of genres and eras. On November 7, 1994, WXYC became the first radio station in the world to broadcast its signal over the internet. A student-run television station, STV, airs on the campus cable and throughout the Chapel Hill Spectrum system. Founded in 1948 as successor to the Carolina Magazine, the Carolina Quarterly, edited by graduate students, has published the works of numerous authors, including Wendell Berry, Raymond Carver, Don DeLillo, Annie Dillard, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Edgar Wideman.
Alumni Legacy: Shaping the World
UNC-Chapel Hill boasts a distinguished alumni network that spans various fields and has made significant contributions to society. Out of the many UNC alumni there have been since its founding, 286,707 are still with us as of May 2012, scattered all over the globe. Many are unsung heroes, making silent yet worthy contributions as they go. Others have reached a level of fame and acknowledgement few ever do.
Challenges and Transformations: Navigating the Evolving Landscape
Like any institution with a long history, UNC-Chapel Hill has faced its share of challenges and controversies. During the 1960s, the campus was the location of significant political protests. Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protests about local racial segregation which began quietly in Franklin Street restaurants led to mass demonstrations and disturbance. The climate of civil unrest prompted the 1963 Speaker Ban Law prohibiting speeches by communists on state campuses in North Carolina. This stand towards the racial segregation on campus led up to the Sit-in movement. The Sit-in movement started a new era in North Carolina, which challenged colleges across the south against racial segregation of public facilities. From the late 1990s and onward, UNC-Chapel Hill expanded rapidly with a 15% increase in total student population to more than 28,000 by 2007. In 2011, the first of several investigations found fraud and academic dishonesty at the university related to its athletic program. In August 2018, the university came to national attention after the toppling of Silent Sam, a Confederate monument which had been erected on campus in 1913 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. After reopening its campus in August 2020, UNC-Chapel Hill reported 135 new COVID-19 cases and four infection clusters within a week of having started in-person classes for the Fall 2020 semester. In April 2024, UNC students joined other campuses across the United States in protests and establishing encampments against the Gaza war and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Students demanded transparency in investments and that UNC divest from Israel.
tags: #alumni #hall #chapel #hill #history
